Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

A TOOWOOMBA family will soon know if a revolutionary treatment is going to lift the fog shrouding 26-year-old Joel Shepherd's mind. His sister Susan Graham-Ryan will fly with Mr Shepherd, their mum Coralie Graham, brother Kris and one of Mr Shepherd's carers to Los Angeles on Sunday. On Monday, Mr Shepherd is due to undergo reverse stroke treatment, which will hopefully reduce inflammation caused by a brain injury he acquired when he was three-and-a-half years old. Funding the perispinal etanercept treatment has been a huge undertaking. WHAT'S HOT ONLINE "Mum had to get a big remortgage of the house to cover the cost of it," Mrs Graham-Ryan said. But the burden has been eased by community members, some complete strangers, who have generously donated money to help fund the treatment. "It has just been amazing and overwhelming at the same time," Mrs Graham-Ryan said. A drug used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis will be injected into a large blood vessel at the base of Mr Shepherd's neck. He will then be suspended upside down to ensure the drug stays in the area it is intended to repair. Read the rest here: Family turns to radical treatment to reverse stroke … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise ATLANTAA team of researchers at the Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University has discovered that hidden differences in the properties of neural circuits can account for whether animals are behaviorally susceptible to brain injury. These results could have implications for the treatment of brain trauma. People vary in their responses to stroke and trauma, which impedes the ability of physicians to predict patient outcomes. Damage to the brain and nervous system can lead to severe disabilities, including epilepsy and cognitive impairment. If doctors could predict outcomes with greater accuracy, patients might benefit from more tailored treatments. Unfortunately, the complexity of the human brain hinders efforts to explain why similar brain damage can affect each person differently. The researchers used a unique research animal, a sea slug called Tritonia diomedea, to study this question. This animal was used because unlike humans, it has a small number of neurons and its behavior is simple. Despite this simplicity, the animals varied in how neurons were connected. Under normal conditions, this variability did not matter to the animals behavior, but when a major pathway in the brain was severed, some of the animals showed little behavioral … Continue reading →

I lost my memory out of the blue 9:52am Tuesday 15th July 2014 in News Exclusive By Tara Russell, Senior Features Writer Tim Bond WHEN Tim Bond woke up in a strange hospital room to see traumatised faces staring back at him through a glass window, he thought he was having a nightmare. Days earlier the 39-year-old, successful company director had it all he went to the gym six days a week, travelled for business and enjoyed partying with loved ones. But within hours he went from living life to the full to laying in a coma with a brain injury. There was no car crash, fall, or attack, and he sustained no physical wounds. Instead, an infection had attacked his brain and robbed Tim of his precious memories. He suffered encephalitis, the rare sudden inflammation of the brain, which in his case, was suspected to be caused by the simple cold sore virus. One minute I felt like I was on top of the world then very suddenly everything changed. Go here to read the rest: I lost my memory out of the blue … Continue reading →

A 31-year-old Brooksville man faces aggravated child abuse charges after a child in his care was found unresponsive and covered in bruises on Thursday, Hernando deputies said. The child was taken to St. Josephs Hospital for treatment of a brain injury in the pediatric intensive care unit, where she remained as of Monday, according to a report from the Hernando County Sheriffs Office. Troy Matthew Hibbard told deputies he lost his temper with the child because of his pain medication and struck her with a door and picked her up and shook her violently, the report said. The child, whose age was not released, and her 5-year-old brother were left in Hibbards care while their mother went to work between 11:15 a.m. and 9:20 p.m. on Thursday, according to the report. At the time, the child had some bruises on her arms, legs and forehead from playing, the childs mother told deputies. When interviewed by deputies, Hibbard first said he found the child gasping for air with her head stuck between a set of folding closet doors, the report said. A forensics technician videotaped a re-enactment of what Hibbard said happened but the childs injuries didnt coincide with his story, … Continue reading →

On the second Wednesday of the month, they gather to share stories, learn about resources and empower each other. Inside Hawaiian Rehabilitation Services in Kailua-Kona, they freely speak about how they were injured, as well as their progress, breakdowns, breakthroughs and feelings about their new lives. With the help of invited speakers, they find answers to problems from the physical, emotional and cognitive to the bureaucratic that are hindering their independence and community re-entry. Other topics are also discussed, such as creating accessible homes, the healing power of music, vocational training and Hawaiian club swinging. They are survivors, caregivers and advocates. All belong to the Kona Brain Injury Support Group, voluntarily facilitated by certified rehabilitation registered nurse and nurse life care planner Karen Klemme. This summer marks 20 years since the groups inception, which began with a passing comment. In 1994, Klemme was evaluating a Waimea woman in her mid-20s who received a traumatic brain injury during the delivery of her child. Klemme was tasked with identifying and facilitating options and services for meeting the needs of this woman a year after the trauma. Not only was the woman starting to walk and talk, she was going to take care … Continue reading →

Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online Just over a year ago I reported on the announcement of the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative, the scientific cousin to the wildly successful Human Genome Project. In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama announced the new study saying, Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our economy every dollar. Today our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimers. Theyre developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs, devising new materials to make batteries 10 times more powerful. Now is not the time to gut these job-creating investments in science and innovation. A year after the ambitious announcement, redOrbit detailed some of the early work already commencing in the field of anxiety and depression and how the work being done will be aimed initially at helping members of our armed services who have returned from battle theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is the arm of the government tasked with identifying academic and private institutions currently working on research projects that can … Continue reading →

LIVERMORE -- Lawrence Livermore Lab scientists will play a key role in creating a device to restore memory function for those with traumatic brain injuries, Department of Defense officials said Tuesday. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency selected the lab's Neural Technology group for an award of up to $2.5 million to help develop a prosthetic device embedded in the brain that would bridge gaps in the brain's memory functions. It would be for service members, veterans and all those with traumatic brain injuries. Researchers said it would sense memory deficits, encode neural signals and bridge gaps in the damaged brain, allowing the continued formation of new memories and recollection of old ones. "Currently, there is no effective treatment for memory loss resulting from conditions like (traumatic brain injury)," said the lab's project leader, Sat Pannu, director of the Center for Bioengineering. "This is a tremendous opportunity from DARPA to leverage Lawrence Livermore's advanced capabilities to develop cutting-edge medical devices that will change the health care landscape." The funding comes from DARPA's Restoring Active Memory (RAM) program, launched in 2013 in support of President Obama's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative. The four-year RAM project is headed by … Continue reading →

LIVERMORE -- Lawrence Livermore Lab scientists will play a key role in creating a device to restore memory function for those with traumatic brain injuries, Department of Defense officials said Tuesday. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency selected the lab's Neural Technology group for an award of up to $2.5 million to help develop a prosthetic device embedded in the brain that would bridge gaps in the brain's memory functions. It would be for service members, veterans and all those with traumatic brain injuries. Researchers said it would sense memory deficits, encode neural signals and bridge gaps in the damaged brain, allowing the continued formation of new memories and recollection of old ones. "Currently, there is no effective treatment for memory loss resulting from conditions like (traumatic brain injury)," said the lab's project leader, Sat Pannu, director of the Center for Bioengineering. "This is a tremendous opportunity from DARPA to leverage Lawrence Livermore's advanced capabilities to develop cutting-edge medical devices that will change the health care landscape." The funding comes from DARPA's Restoring Active Memory (RAM) program, launched in 2013 in support of President Obama's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative. The four-year RAM project is headed by … Continue reading →

CBS Minnesota (con't) Affordable Care Act Updates: CBSMinnesota.com/ACA Health News & Information: CBSMinnesota.com/Health MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) You may be surprised to know whats the number one cause of death in people younger than 40. Its traumatic brain injury, and it can be caused by a car accident, a fall or a hit to the head. But now a Minnesota hospital is trying out a new tool that could save lives. Tranexamic Acid, or TXA, is already being used by the Department of Defense to treat some of the bloodiest injuries on the battlefield. The FDA-approved medication controls bleeding in the body. Now Regions Hospital wants to see if it can also stop bleeding in the brain. As a Level One Trauma Center, we see a lot of patients who suffer head injuries, said Dr. Aaron Burnett. Follow this link: New Brain Injury Medication To Be Tested In Minn. … Continue reading →

Quick Facts: Harborview Medical Center wants to test a drug on unconscious patients without their consent, according to the Seattle times. The experimental treatment would be used on about 100 victims who are taken to the hospital with traumatic brain injuries. These kinds of human studies are allowed under federal law only if the community is well informed ahead of time. The study could start this fall or winter but still needs final approval and that depends on how well community outreach on the topic goes. The Seattle Times reports that Harborview is among 10 hospitals wanting to take part in the no-consent trial involving the Food and Drug Administration-approved drug, tranexamic acid. It aims at preventing bleeding in the brain, specifically in people with traumatic brain injuries. Originally posted here: Harborview to test drug on unconscious patients … Continue reading →